But new research from Columbia University researchers found no evidence that abstinence and fidelity caused the overall decline of HIV in Uganda between 1994 and 2002. The study reported that increased use of condoms and the death of AIDS patients resulted in fewer HIV cases. Green rejected those new findings during an interview with Tim Morgan, Christianity Today 's deputy managing editor. (An edited transcript.)

Mr. Orrock said the prayers will be protected by free-speech laws.

"Under the First Amendment, you can say whatever you want to say," the Caroline Republican said. "It's a minor modification of a long-standing practice."

Green, 63, was the first clergyman convicted under Sweden's tough hate crimes laws, which make it a crime to make inflammatory remarks against racial, religious or national groups. The laws were ratified in 2003 to include homosexuals.

Green, a Pentacostal, said he was pleased with the verdict, but called it a "partial victory," saying he expects the case to move on to the Supreme Court.

The study, authored by three researchers from the Centers for Disease Control, examined "adverse health outcomes" that result from sexual activity including both sexually transmitted diseases, viruses and infections, infertility and abortions. More men then women died in 1998 as a result of sexual behavior - 19,634 men compared to 10,148 women. But almost all of the deaths in men were caused by HIV.